As the holiday of Passover rapidly approaches, rabbis and Jewish community members across the globe are navigating the process of procuring holiday essentials, especially matzah, concerned both about its availability and how to safely distribute the matzahs to the millions who are homebound as a result of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. Most matzah bakeries have […]
HEARTBREAKING – TUESDAY NIFTARIM: Partial List of COVID-19 Victims
The following is a partial list of victims Niftar from the COVID-19 pandemic just from Tuesday morning until 9:00PM. Unfortunately, there are many more, but YWN does not have all the information. YWN has only published the names we were given. If you have any info to add, please contact YWN with the info. While many […]
How Neo-Nazis Helped Bring Passover to Tasmania
In late February, Tasmania’s Jewish community was rocked from its tranquil existence by a string of anti-Semitic displays—a synagogue defaced and swastikas prominently displayed in front of a home—horrifying local residents and the state as a whole. Tucked away in a hidden corner of the world, separated from mainland Australia by the Bass Strait, Tasmania […]
Rabbi Yosef Neumann, 72, Monsey Chanukah Stabbing Victim
Those who knew him all use the same Yiddish words to describe Rabbi Yosef Neumann, who was brutally stabbed at a Chanukah celebration in Monsey, N.Y., and passed away on Sunday of his wounds: “He is a fartzeitishe Chassidisher Yid,” a Chassidic Jew from a bygone era, an unending font of Chassidic stories, anecdotes and […]
Everything You Need For An At-Home-Seder
Dear Friends, While we pray for a speedy and healthy end to the challenge we face, it is time now to begin preparing for Pesach. Passover is traditionally spent with family and friends, a celebration of the Divine gift of Jewish survival and community. But with coronavirus curtailing travel plans and social interactions, many are […]
Online Judaism: A guide for parents on engaging Jewishly in the time of corona
(March 30, 2020 / JNS) It wasn’t so long ago when life was so over-the-top busy that you longed for some quiet unstructured time with your children. The coronavirus pandemic has granted that wish. And then some. With no end in sight of QT (Quality Time), many schools have come to a parent’s rescue with […]
In Age of Coronavirus, Chabad Launches World’s Largest Passover Campaign
Until just a few weeks ago, Ira and Karen Smith and their family were looking forward to a Passover adventure. Ira’s younger sister was getting married in Las Vegas the weekend before the Jewish holiday, so the Smiths planned to fly there from their hometown of Evanston, Ill., outside of Chicago, to celebrate the nuptials, […]
200 Israelis and 74 Foreign Nationals Arrive Home From Abroad Due to Pandemic
A special flight with 200 Israelis who were stranded in Hungary departed on Thursday from the Hungarian capital of Budapest and arrived back to Israel. The Israelis had been unable to leave Hungary since the country has closed its borders, responding to the ever-increasing coronavirus pandemic. Taking initiative in making the necessary arrangements for the flight were […]
Local bar mitzvah celebrated online because of social distancing due to COVID-19
COVID-19 has stopped people from going out, but it couldn’t stop Shmueli Goldman from having his bar mitzvah. The 13-year-old Gainesville resident celebrated his coming-of-age Thursday from the safety of his own home at the UF Lubavitch-Chabad Jewish Student & Community Center of Gainesville. His ceremony was streamed live on Zoom Video Communications to a […]
When Jewish Life Goes Viral: What a Wedding!
n this multimedia mini-series, we look at Chabad’s response to the effects of the coronavirus pandemic on Jewish life events. In this, part two, we look at how wedding celebrations continue while adhering to social distancing policies. Shevi Katzman and Yaacov Behrman were ready to take the plunge. Yet even as they announced their engagement to […]